Oxfam has worked in Uganda since 1963. In that time we have increased the scale and scope of our work; responding to the needs of displaced people, refugees, and marginalised poor communities. This has included the provision of essential services, such as education, or clean water; promoting best-practices in cattle keeping, poultry rearing, and farming to refugees; and related activities for disadvantaged communities.

Our work has evolved also to provide support in terms of finance and professional advice and training to small national non-government organisations (NGOs). Some of these groups lobby the Government of Uganda on a wide range of policies – including trade, conflict resolution, and land rights. Many of our partner organisations not only have projects ‘on the ground’, but are involved in campaigning work for disadvantaged groups – such as nomadic herders in Kotido and Kaboong districts; people in conflict areas in Kitgum District; and those in areas prone to natural disasters in Bundibugyo District.

Work in emergencies

Oxfam has responded to the crises caused by conflict in northern Uganda for six years, focusing on the provision of water and sanitation systems, public health promotion and helping people to make a living.

In Kitgum and Pader Districts, Oxfam’s work aims to strengthen the resilience, and respond to the needs of, approximately 230,000 people who live in camps for those who have been displaced by conflict.

Oxfam works in over ten camps and transitory settlement sites in the northern district of Kitgum, and has a number of projects in Kitgum town. We provide water and sanitation facilities such as boreholes and pit latrines and train community members in public health and maintenance of sanitary facilities. Our work aims at enabling our beneficiaries to gradually regain their self-reliance. We provide life-stock, seeds, tools, and the knowledge to use these productively after years of confinement in camps.

Find out more about the conflict and Oxfam's work in northern Uganda

The right to be heard

We work with poor women and men to enable them to speak out for their basic rights. This supports work to enable those living in poverty to demand information, better policies, and transparent, equitable use of the government and other resources that should lead to an improvement in their standards of living.

Make Trade Fair in Uganda

In Uganda the focus of Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair campaign is pushing for Trade policies that benefit poor people, to enable small-holder farmers to overcome poverty, and look to a future with sustainable livelihoods. With support from our regional office in Nairobi, this work is specifically supporting poor maize farmers who suffer as a result of collapsed prices.

In order to enhance the ability of poor people to be able to influence national Trade policies, we are working to distribute relevant information to the public. Small-scale farmers, who are the main stakeholders, are usually disadvantaged because they never get to know about policy development processes – and yet they are the end-users. To address this oversight, Oxfam, in partnership with the African Centre for Trade and Development (ACTADE) has provided this essential information and gathered feedback from the farmers who are ultimately effected most directly by any Trade policy.

Work with nomadic herders

Our work with nomadic communities herders, or ‘pastoralists’ has grown significantly over the last two years. While our projects in north Karamoja remain the backbone of this work, we have now developed a national strategy on advocacy and campaigning at national level, which moves the scope and status of this part of our programme beyond Karamoja.

We have established pastoralist women’s groups helping them to manage retail shops within their communities. This has enabled them to meet their basic needs and feel empowered by earning an income. Most importantly they have developed some basic literacy and numeracy skills to help them run their businesses.

We have also been supporting the Jie Mobile Herders’ Association through cash-for-work projects to de-silt two water dams. The project has not only provided reliable water resources for the Jie, but also it has been a source of empowerment as noted by the Nawii Herders’ Chairperson: “We did not know that we are capable of desilting these dams by ourselves. Thanks to Oxfam, we now feel confident to do this kind of work for our future.”

Last updated: July 07